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Alexander MUNRO was born in Ardersier in the Scottish Highlands, on the Moray Firth, east of Inverness, near Fort George, and Nairn,Scotland on the 18 July 1812 the son of George MUNRO and Isabel MAIN.

On the 3 September 1829 Alexander was transported for seven years, he had been sentenced the day before in Inverness, where the family had moved after the death of his father. Along with two other boys, Alexander robbed a grocery store.

He arrived with 200 other convicts onboard the ship, York on the 7 February 1831. Measuring only 5'3" tall, he could read and write and his occupation was given as a Farm Boy. Alexander was assigned to John BROWNE a settler of Patricks Plains.

Alexander gained his Certificate of Freedom in 1836 and soon began buying up depasturing licenses all around the Singletom Area.

On the 6 July 1838 the Reverend HERRINGTON at Whittingham married Alexander MUNRO to Sophia LOVELL 1812-1889, Sophia, a convict sentenced to seven years had come from Isle of Ely, Cambridgeshire, on the 'Diana', arriving in 1833.

Sophia and Alexander failed to have children of their own and in 1840 adopted 3year old Harriet. Harriet was the natural child of Thomas PHILLIPS and his wife Catherine.

Alexander in 1839 began a successful carrying business in 1839 and with his depasturing licenses soon began to acquire wealth. In 1841 he built the Sir Thomas Mitchell Inn on the corner of Cambridge and George Streets in Singleton and managed several other hotels and began his mail coach service from Singleton.

In 1851 Alexander built Ness House in George St., Singleton which is still standing today and he replaced the old Sir Thomas Mitchell Inn with the large Caledonian Hotel. In the 1868 Rate Book it was stated as "two,story,brick iron roof,13 rooms". The Singleton Argus 9th November 1901 advertisement stated" 14 bedrooms, 2 dining rooms, 2 parlours, sample room,kitchen,bathroom, laundry, pantry, man's room, stables, 4 stalls, buggy house etc". It had a 73ft frontage to George St, 73ft to High St, and 332ft to Cambridge St. The sale was on account of Mrs R.H.LEVIEN his grandaughter Harriet Emma COUSINS 1860-1946

MUNRO began the 'Bebeah' Vineyard and his wines won more than 2000 prizes all over the world; more than 500 first prizes. He built his house 'Ardersier House' on the grounds of Bebeah.

Alexander MUNRO was elected the first mayor of Singleton in 1866, when Singleton became a municipality.

Alexander MUNRO was a good man with a big heart, always putting back into the community and always helping those less fortunate than himself. He was very much admired by both the wealthy and the not so wealthy.

When the council in 1884 was not interested in building a gas making plant themselves, they passed an act on the 16 May 1884, to allow him to build it himself thereby giving the town light. He then turned the plant over to the town at cost price.

He donated the land for the Glenridding Church and Cemetery, the Masonic Hall and was a huge benefactor in the building of the Singleton Grammer School. He was the founder of the Oddfellows Lodge and his Hunter River Building Society financed the building of a north wing on the hospital in John Street and gave money to the hospital. He had a beautiful fountain made in Glasgow and gave it to the Town

In 1878 Alexander Munro retired from politics and was given a large banquet by the town, he returned to Scotland with Sophia for a short holiday.

On the 2 February 1889 Alexander MUNRO died at Ardersier House. Two days later on the 4 All the shops in Singleton were closed at 1:00pm to allow the town to mourn in what was to be the largest ever funeral Singleton had ever seen. The cortege being a half a mile long.

Sophia followed on the 26 July 1889.

Alexander in his will left 6,000 to various lagacies and 500 to the Singleton Benevolent Society. All this from a man who had been transported for stealing groceries.

The Maitland Mercury paid homage to Alexander Munro with this stirring obituary
in their newspaper on the 5 September 1889

SINGLETON.

"DEATH OF MR. ALEXANDER MUNRO.The kind and sympathetic voice is
hushed for ever, and the noble eye will no longer speak the sentiments
of a heart that for three-quarters of a century was beating full of
truly Christian love.
Alexander Munro is no more-the Great Conqueror claimed him to join
the silent majority.
Singleton has lost one of its greatest citizens, and the colony,
a prominent philanthropist and one of Nature's gentlemen.
The sad event took place at the residence of the deceased,
Ardesier House, near Singleton, on Saturday, the 26th instant, at half-past
two o'clock in the afternoon. For more than a week all hope had been
abandoned by Mr. Munro's medical attendants, and it was only a
question of time when the end should come. During nearly the whole
of that period the deceased was in a comatose state, but when
consciousness returned at intervals he appeared to suffer much pain.
Life, however, ebbed gradually away until the last grain
had dropped out of the glass and a merciful Providence ended
the earthly troubles of our noble friend and fellow townsman.
Mr. Munro was born at Ardesier, Invernesshire, Scotland, in the
memorable year 1812, and arrived in the colony in 1831, and has
resid ed here ever since, with the exception of a trip to his native
land about 11 years ago.
Arriving here when quite young, he soon adapted himself to the
rough mode of life then prevailing in New South Wales, with that
readiness and endurance for which the national character of Caledonia's
sons has so eminently qualified them as the best colonizers in
the world.
One of his first ventures in Singleton was to build the Caledonia Hotel.
Having made some money at hotelkeeping, he subsequently took up stations
in the Liverpool Plains district, where he was squatting for many years.
In all his undertakings he was singularly prosperous, and wealth flowed
in from all sides.
About thirty years ago Mr. Munro, being fully convinced
that viticulture as an important industry would eventually take root
as an important industry in the valley of the Hunter, he started
to work with that determination and enterprise so characteristic of
the man, and having obtained a suitable piece of land-a portion of the
well-known Kelso estate, near Singleton-planted there the Bebeah vineyard,
now so famous throughout the length and breadth of the Australian colonies.
At an early period of the establishment of Bebeah, Mr. Munro
engaged the services of Mr. Mackenzie, under whose excellent management
Bebeah wines attained such a celebrity that at length
they appeared at the table of the gracious Sovereign who rules the
destinies of this great Empire. The late Emperor William of Germany also
patronised Bebeah wines, and expressed himsnlf in approving terms of
their excellent character.
As the demand for Bebeah wines was increasing at a rapid rate, in
order to add to the supply, Mr. Munro about a dozen years ago purchased
the adjoining Greenwood Vineyard from Mr. James Moore, and between
the two vineyards there are now about eighty acres in full bearing.
After purchasing the Greenwood Vineyard, Mr. Munro built there, on
an excellently elevated site, the residence where he ended his days.
When in England some eleven years ago, Mr. Munro ordered a gas plant
for Singleton, and, having subsequently got an Act passed through
Parliament, the gas works were established.
the first lamp in Burdekin Park being lit by Mr.James P. Quinn, then
Mayor of Singleton, in October, 1881.
Throughout his long residence in Singleton, Mr. Munro took an active
part in all public matters. On the establishment of the municipality
in the year 1867, he was elected the first mayor, and was twice re-elected
after wards, thus remaining in office for three years.
The subject of this notice took an active part in the establishment
of the Singleton and Patrick's Plains Benevolent Society some forty-five
years ago, and throughout that long period Mr. Munro was always, we believe,
on the Committee of Management,
He was subsequently for many years Vice-President of the Society,
and on the retirement of the late President, Mr. J. C. S. M'Douall,
Mr. Munro was elected as President, an office which he held up till
his death.
Mr. Munro's sympathetic disposition made him at all times take a
deep interest in the poor inmates of the Asylum and nothing gave him greater
delight than to provide an ample feast for the old men and women on holidays,
namely Christmas and New Year, Easter, and Queen's Birthday, etc.,
making it a point to be present at the meal and enjoying
the hearty manner in which the old people appreciated his kindness.
Many years ago Mr. Munro showed his deep interest in the welfare of
the Benevolent Society by giving a munificent donation of 1000 towards
completing the Benevolent Asylum in accordance with the original design
prepared by Mr. Rowe, architect, Sydney.
In order to recognize this noble act the people of Singleton determined
to perpetuate Mr. Munro's memory by erecting a marble bust of the
generous donor in that building, and the ceremony of unveiling it
was performed last year by Miss White, eldest daughter of the
Rev. Dr. J. S. White, in the presence of a large number of people;
the day having been made a half-holiday in Singleton.
Mr. Munro was an ardent Freemason, and took an active interest
in masonic affairs. He joined the first lodge established in Singleton
in the year 1864, and passed the chair, and remained in connection
with various lodges here ever since.
Some time ago he presented the brethren with an allotment of land
in a central position in John-street for the purpose of erecting
there on a Masonic Hall, and further contributed a donation of 100
towards the building fund.
Mr. Munro was also one of the founders of the Oddfellows' Lodge
in Singleton many years ago, and remained a consistent member till
his death.
He took great interest in the Northern Agricultural Association from
its establishment in the year 1868, and for several years was one
of the vice-presidents ot that society.
He was a liberal contributor to the funds of the Mechanics' Institute
and all public movements which in his opinion were worthy of support.
Quite recently he gave the handsomesum of 1000 to the funds of
St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church for the purpose of building
a new church ; but although a consistent supporter of the church of
his forefathers, he was at all times ready to support any calls made
upon him by other denominations, and his charitable feelings made no
distinction between creed or country : no poor man was ever turned
away from the door of good Alexander Munro without a crust of bread.
An instance of the genuine charitable character of Mr. Munro was
lately conveyed to us from a trustworthy source, and it may not be
out of place to give it here. It appears that when in Scotland
some 11 years ago he ascertained that some of his relatives were
rather reduced in circumstances, and in order to provide against
want for the rest of their lives he built four cottages, one for each,
and allowed each an annuity of 40 per annum, the money having been
remitted regularly since then.
All honor to the noble departed. May a glorious resurrection be his reward."

Singleton, 3rd February, 1889.

researched, written and transcribed
by janilye 1999

Family Note:

Thomas EATHER 1824-1909 established a vineyard which was soon producing wine grapes of good quality and Thomas sometimes sold Alexander grapes from his vineyard at "Meerea" to help his growing business. Family legend has it that his wife, Eliza nee CROWLEY threatened to leave Thomas if he persisted in selling grapes to MUNRO for his "immoral liquor trade". Faced with this threat, Thomas is said to have dug out his wine grapes and replaced them with table grapes. However later on the family again began to grow good wine grapes as you see here in Meerea Park Today
The photograph below taken in George Street, Singleton around 1900 shows The Caledonian Inn on the left and the horses drinking from Munro's fountain.

Andrew Henry EATHER alias Alain John COOPER,the son of Andrew Eather 1875-1965 and Enid King 1886-1931 -
The James EATHER Line.

For some unexplained reason Andrew Eather changed his name. Perhaps it was to get away from the law or perhaps a Mrs. Andrew Eather for it seems Andrew enjoyed a good wedding.

His new name began as Alan John Cooper and under that name he went to Grafton and married Monica Ruth BURNS in the Catholic Church at South Grafton on the 12 April 1941

The next year on 19 May 1942 under the name of Alain John Cooper he joins the 1st Armoured Regiment and gets shipped off to New Guinea as a driver. After the war he remains with the army till 1946 when he is discharged.

Before his discharge on the 22 August 1945 he marries again. This time using the name Alain John Cooper he goes all the way down to Goulburn and marries Jean LANHAM in the Church of England.

This 'wife juggling', doesn't last very long for the wives find out and on the 20 December 1945 Jean LANHAM hands him an annulment for Christmas. Not to be outdone, the following week on the 27 December Monica Ruth up in Grafton wishes him a Happy New Year with a divorce.

On a sad note Monica Ruth had a son in 1941, which they named Alain John Cooper, who died in infancy.

1946 rolls around and on the 13 July 1946 Alain John Cooper ties the knot again. This time with Dulcie Elizabeth NEIL. However this time Alain sticks and remains true, for they produced 10 children.

Alain John Cooper formerly Andrew Henry Eather died at Redcliffe, Queensland in the year 2000.

As a footnote I'd just like to add, that if you happen to be a decendant of Andrew Eather 1914-2000 and you were brought up wondering what happened to him. Now you know!

When Andrew Eather left home, he left a family, to live out their days wondering whatever became of him.

written by janilye from several sources:
NSW State records,
NSW.BD&M
National Library of Australia

Ann EATHER the first born of Thomas EATHER and Elizabeth, nee Lee was born on the 18 April 1793 at Parramatta, New South Wales.Ann was baptised on the 5 May 1793 long before the parish of St John had been established and before a proper Church had been erected at Parramatta.The only clergyman in the colony was the Reverend Richard JOHNSON who had come out with the First Fleet.
When she was four years of age, Ann EATHER moved with her parents and younger brother and sister, Robert and Charlotte, to the land grant in the bushland near the Hawkesbury River at Mulgrave Place. There her father was setting about converting the virgin scrub into a farm. It was there, under primitive conditions, that Ann spent her childhood. Her playmates of those years were an increasing number of younger brothers and sisters, and by the time that she reached the age of fourteen she was the eldest of seven children. Another brother was born after she married. Undoubtedly, Ann had very little formal education during her childhood, living as she did in a community that was largely illiterate, and at a distance from the townships of Sydney and Parramatta. Formal education in the environment of the day was restricted to the children of the few farmers who were sufficiently wealthy as to be able to employ the services of tutors. Nevertheless, it appears that Ann did not grow up completely illiterate. In adult life she was able at least to sign her name upon documents. Ann did not have to wait long for matrimony to come her way. In a community that was still short of eligible spinsters, most girls tended to find husbands while still in their teenage years. About the age of sixteen Ann EATHER became the wife of Joseph ONUS 1782-1835 , a convict who was then about the age of twenty-nine years. Whether Joseph and Ann had a wedding ceremony will probably never be known. There is no record of their marriage in any of the Church registers then in the colony. However, this lack of the record of such an event does not necessarily mean that theirs was a de facto relationship, as the Church registers of those years prior to 1830 are known to be wanting in many instances.Of the six children of Joseph and Ann, only two are listed in the births index of the New South Wales Registrar-General's Department. It was about 1809 that Ann EATHER became the wife of Joseph ONUS and from then until 1835 her life story runs parallel to that of her husband.

On 14 February 1837, approximately twenty months after the death of Joseph ONUS, his widow Ann, married again in a ceremony held in St Matthew's Church at Windsor. Her second husband was William SHARP, a widower without any children. Ann was 43 and William only 26. A number of relatives and friends were present at the ceremony and no fewer than five signed the register as witnesses to the event. They were Thomas EATHER and his wife, Sarah EATHER; John TOWN, son-in-law of the bride; Susannah McALPIN, daughter of the bride; and Mary SHARP, a relative of the groom. The Reverend H T STILES conducted the ceremony. William SHARP had been born at Parramatta on 6 November 1810, the fifth child and fourth son of Thomas SHARP and his wife, Martha BURRELL. He had married Sarah REEVES, but she had died. His father, Thomas SHARP, had been born circa 1775 at Honeybow in the English county of Gloucestershire. He had enlisted in the New South Wales Corps as a private, and arrived in the colony on the ship "Sugar Cane" on 17 September 1793. Upon arrival he was stationed at Parramatta and lived there until about 1814. In 1800 he had assigned to him Martha BURRELL, who had arrived in the colony on the ship "Speedy" on 11 April 1800. She had been born circa 1775 in Surrey, England, and had been tried there and sentenced to seven years transportation in January 1796. She brought to the colony with her her son, John BURRELL, born in 1798 while she was in prison. In the period between 1801 and 1821, Thomas and Martha had a family of eight children; the first six being born at Parramatta and the last two at Richmond. They married at St Phillip's Church, Sydney on 13 March 1810, although they were at that time still residing at Parramatta. By the time of the 1814 muster, they were living in the Hawkesbury district and were still there in 1822. Thomas was still a soldier and at that time a member of the 102 Regiment. He died on 30 January 1823 at Richmond and was buried in St Peter's Cemetery. At the time of the 1828 census, his widow, Martha, was living with James PAGET. She lived to see the two daughters of her son, William, before she died at her home in Richmond on 14 November 1852, almost thirty years after the death of Thomas. She had been pre-deceased by two of her daughters and one son. In her decision to marry again, Ann was evidently undeterred by the stipulation in her first husband's will that, upon so doing, she would forfeit the family home. Her son William was still a minor and could not inherit it until he was 21. Technically, upon her marriage, the house passed to her eldest son, Joseph, to hold in trust until William turned 21, but he too was still a minor. Undoubtedly a satisfactory arrangement was worked out whereby Ann and her new husband resided in the house along with her sons until they eventually married and moved into homes of their own. As far as it is possible to ascertain, Ann and William resided in the house until her death in 1865, and by then her son, William, was already deceased. William SHARP continued to reside there for many years after he became a widower again, but eventually the house became the home of William ONUS's elder son, Joseph, as it rightfully should have.

In 1843 Ann SHARP turned fifty. With all six children of her first marriage now wedded and raising families of their own, she probably felt a great deal of contentment and satisfaction. She was now one of the senior citizens of Richmond, the town that had not existed when she was first married. She was surrounded by numerous relatives. Nearby, in the town, was her brother,Thomas, landlord of the "Union Inn", and also her youngest brother, James, now a married man with several young children and earning his living as a wheelwright. Just down the road at "Agnes Bank" was her sister, Charlotte, now remarried to William MALONEY. Up in the hills above North Richmond, each with a spouse and children, there dwelt on their respective farms, eldest brother, Robert and youngest sister, Rachel. The latter had returned to the district only two years
previously after having lived for seven years at Hobart Town in Tasmania. Over at Cornwallis near Windsor on another farm was another brother, Charles, with his wife and younger children, and somewhere around the district was her other brother, John, now nearly forty and still unmarried.

Now and then Ann would make the journey by cart to Windsor to visit her aged mother, the matriarch of an increasing number of descendants in three generations. Ann now saw less of her daughter, Mary Ann, who had ceased the practice of coming home from the Hunter Valley for the births of her children. Patrick's Plains and the Wollombi were now well-populated and the township of Singleton was taking shape. Mary Ann's last two daughters had been born at home at Bulga. Eldest daughter, Elizabeth, was living close by at North Richmond, where her husband, John TOWN, had several farms along Wheeney Creek. Youngest daughter, Susannah, was also living close by in Richmond, but before long she was to move out over the hills with William and their children to take up farming at Bulga close by Mary Ann and John EATON.

If Ann SHARP had caused some raised eyebrows in Richmond in 1842 when she had a baby at the age of forty-eight, she must have caused some stifled gasps of surprise when she gave birth to yet another daughter on 11 May 1845, a fortnight after she turned fifty-two. This is the oldest at which any member of the EATHER family is known to have given birth to a child. The period of time between the births of Ann's first and last children - thirty-four years - is probably another family record, on the female side at least.

A convict arrived on the 'Norfolk' 27 August 1829 sentenced to seven years at the Surrey Quarter Sessions.
It is not given to many (writes a correspondent) to pass the end of their lives close to the place where their life work has been carried on, but such was the case with Capt George Manning, who died at Sackville, on the 22 July 1907.
His home was the farm originally built by Mr George Loder, one of the pioneers of farming on the fertile river when it was the granary for the infant colony an important agricultural asset of the land in times when food was often famine prices. The late Mr Manning was in his 96th year at the time of his death; and two years ago, when the writer visited him, had a vivid remembrance of the river from the days of the very early sailing vessels there. He remembered the boat building that made the river a busy place, and the forests of cedar that the sawyers felled and floated down the numerous creeks and rivers, Although before his time, he could speak of such early men as Griffiths, the boat builder, whose Bee took Governor Bligh on his many expeditions to the Green Hills, as Windsor was then called, 'Boat and ship building formed a most important river industry in my early days,' said Captain Manning. 'Beazley's Wharf, between Richmond and Windsor, was still busy, though the building of the Mary and Elizabeth and the Governor Bourke was before my time. The Glory was the last of Griffiths' boats, built about 1819, and the Francis and the Norfolk were still talked of. Captain Manning's sailing vessel, so many years the favorite passenger and cargo boat of the Hawkesbury, was the Maid of Australia, 'but I suppose,' said the ex-master, 'most of those who travelled by her have joined the great majority,' for few live to bear the weight of 90 years. The Loders, Halls, Churchills, Doyles, Parnells, Bowmans, and many other men who first lived at Hawkesbury, though now their names are known throughout the land, were my passengers, and gladly paid 12/6 for a trip from Sydney to Windsor in The Maid. Many a little girl, now a middle aged woman, has been put under my care for her first trip to the big city, as it was then looked on as quite an adventure for young people to go so far from home as from the river to Sydney.' Captain Manning was long the only survivor of the band of river shipmasters who all rest in the graveyards along the banks of the Hawkesbury - Captains Grono, Herd, Christie, Sternbeck, Books, and his partner, Mitchell, being his early contemporaries. Among his passengers was the one-time almost king of the river, old Solomon Wiseman. 'I knew him well,' said the captain. 'He was providore for the convicts, and made many thousands out of that job. A rough mannered man, but very hospitable, and hand-in-glove with the Government. The judges on circuit, especially Judge Roger Therry used to stay with him, in his old house (now an hotel at the Ferry), in the days of overlanding, when they travelled on horseback that way between Sydney and Maitland. Captain Manning came out from England when a child in the very early emigration days.[sic]
After steamers were introduced on to the river as passenger carriers, he continued to command a vessel; and was, for over 50 years, until his retirement into private life on his farm, constantly engaged in the Hawkesbury River traffic. Even to the last he showed traces of what a fine personage physically he was, being fully 6ft high, and a broad, well-built figure. His daughters, who have lived all their lives in the district, tended him in his declining years, and carried on the work of the farm since he ceased to be able to do so.

The late George Manning had been 78 years in New South Wales, and in 1838, at the age of 26, at Sackville Reach, he married Elizabeth Elkins. The issue of the marriage was 11 children, (three of whom are dead, viz, James, who died at Lower Portland, George, and William, who died on the Clarence River. The surviving members of the family are Mrs T. Turnbull (Canterbury); Ann, Mrs John Warr Turnbull (Sackville) Miss Sarah Manning (Sackville); Mr Frederick Manning (Narrabri); Mrs Griffiths (Colo Vale); Mr Andrew Manning (Terrace, Windsor); Mr Charles Manning (Lithgow); and Miss Clara Manning (Sackville). The funeral took place on Tuesday last, the remains being conveyed from deceased's late residence in Mr Jones' steamer, and interred in the family vault in the Sackville C.E cemetery, where a large concourse of people had assembled. Rev W. S. Newton, M A., carried out the last solemn rites, and Mr J. W. Chandler was the undertaker. The cause of death was bronchitis, and deceased had been ill about a fortnight.
ORIGINAL SOURCE:
Windsor & Richmond Gazette (NSW), 27 July 1907, p 4
Original Copy

Charles EATHER and his twin brother Thomas EATHER were the first of the EATHER family born in the Hawkesbury district.
On 1 October 1800, three years after they had settled on their thirty acre grant of land at Green Hills, Thomas EATHER formerly HEATHER 1764-1827 and his wife Elizabeth, nee LEE 1771-1860 became the proud parents of twin sons, whom they named Charles and Thomas.
The forename Charles had not appeared in the Heather family in the four previous generations, but Thomas EATHER had had a good friend in one Charles MARTIN 1769-1797. They had been fellow inmates of the prison at Maidstone and had come out to the colony together on the "Neptune".
Thomas had attended Charles Martin's wedding at Parramatta on 2 August 1792 to SARAH GITTENS (1772-1845) and had been recorded as a witness to that event.
Sadly, Charles Martin had been murdered on the 25th.October 1797. There was a dispute over money between Charles and John Morris, Morris kicked Charles in the groin and left him to die. MORRIS was later charged and convicted of manslaughter. Perhaps Thomas named the first-born of his twins after his late friend.

Just after Charles EATHER turned five he was baptised on 11 October 1805, along with his twin brother Thomas and their infant brother John, who was eight days old, by the Reverend Samuel MARSDEN, during his visit to the Hawkesbury.
Charles spent his childhood on the EATHER farm. He saw the floods which innundated much of his parents' farm in March 1806, and worse floods in the winter of 1809, when hundreds of pigs, sheep and cattle and countless stacks of hay were washed away . He saw too the gradual development of a small township on Green Hills and was quite a big boy when Governor MACQUARIE visited the district and named it Windsor.

During his teenage years Charles undoubtedly learned many of the skills of farm labour as he assisted his father and brothers in various tasks on the family farm. Nevertheless, Thomas EATHER evidently believed that it was important that his twin sons should learn the skills of a useful trade. As teenagers, both trained to be shoemakers, probably under an apprenticeship to a local artisan. When the General Muster was taken in 1822 both Charles and Thomas were recorded as being shoemakers. It seems unlikely that they practiced their trade for long for being brought up on a farm in what was a rich farming district, they probably felt that agriculture offered a better future than a trade.

On 20 June 1820 their father, Thomas, had sent a petition to the Governor, seeking a second grant of land. About the same time Charles and Thomas also made applications for grants. Ten months later, on Saturday, 28 April 1821, the "Sydney Gazette" carried a long list of names of 'new tiers' who were to receive grants of land, and old settlers, who were to have "additional lands located for them in the year 1821". The list included the names of Charles EATHER , Thomas EATHER and Thomas EATHER Snr. The exact District of Charles EATHER's block of land has not been verified, but it was evidently on the river flats at Cornwallis, quite close to the Hawkesbury River. Records show that Charles farmed at Cornwallis for many years, and that in the next generation his sons had also farmed there.
Although flood-prone, the land at Cornwallis was very fertile and only a short distance from Windsor. The area of his grant was probably 50 acres, that being the area that his father received.
By 1822 Charles was most likely farming his land rather than practicing trade of shoe-making.

The EATHER sons belonged to the increasing proportion of the population which consisted of offspring of the emancipists, soldiers and settlers, born and bred in the colony and recognizing Australia as their native land. By the time they were in their early twenties most of the males naturally casting around for likely spouses, and the EATHER's were no exception in this respect. Males were still far more numerous than females in the colony, but eldest brother Robert EATHER had succeeded in finding a marital partner in young Mary LYNCH , and by 1823 they were the parents of three young children.
By then Thomas EATHER had formed a romantic attachment with Sarah McAlpin, the daughter of blacksmith, Peter McALPIN, and sister to Peter McAlpin, William Glas McAlpin and Catherine McAlpin. Thomas and Sarah married in the following year on the same day that Robert and Mary married.
In 1823 Charles also found a lifelong marital partner in Ann GOUGH, at three years his senior, recently separated from her husband, and at the age of 26 years the mother of 7 children.
What took her to the Hawkesbury district is uncertain, because she had lived at Sydney until she and her husband had parted late in 1822. Charles showed her compassion in her unfortunate situation and provided a home for her and several of her young children.

Ann's maiden name was CAIN. She had been born in Ireland about 1797 to Mary CAIN and husband whose forename has not emerged from records researched. When she was sixteen Ann CAIN came to Australia as a free woman on the ship "Earl Spencer", which sailed from England on 2 June 1813 under the command of Captain MITCHELL. On board were 200 male convicts (of whom 4 died during the voyage),free passengers, and a detachment of the 73rd. Regiment, together with their wives and children. During the long voyage, the vessel called at only one port, Madeira, where it stayed for ten days and took on supplies. After a voyage of over four months, the ship dropped anchor in Sydney Harbour on 9 October 1813.
Ann's name was not listed amongst the passengers on board the ship "Earl Spencer". There was one passenger, Mr D MALER , who had four servants accompanying him. Their names were not listed and Ann might have been one of them, or she might have been the daughter of one of the Soldiers. One of the convicts on board was Patrick KANE, age 40 years, a native of county Derry in Ireland. There is no reason other than the similarity of surnames to suggest that he was Ann's father. Amongst the passengers on the ship "Earl Spencer" was one who later won himself a place in the pages of history as an explorer. He was William HOVELL, who was accompanied on the voyage by his wife and children. In 1824 he accompanied Hamilton HUME on the historic first journey of exploration from the settled areas near Goulburn south to Port Phillip. On 25 November 1813, only six weeks after her arrival in the colony, Ann CAIN (spinster married to George TRAITS (bachelor), a seaman, at St Phillip's Church, Sydney.
She was age sixteen years. Her signature on the Church record of the marriage was not in running script, so she might have been able to write her name without being literate. Subsequently her name appeared in records with a number of variations such as Trails, Traitis, Fraites and even Streets. No further mention of George TRAITS has been located in any records after the wedding, so what became of him remains a mystery.
In March 1814, five months after her marriage, Ann TRAITS was charged and found guilty of theft. She received a short sentence and, when the Muster was taken later that year , she listed as a convict and was on Government Stores at the hospital at Parramatta. By 1815 Ann TRAITS had gone to the Hawkesbury district and was residing at Windsor with a convict, James GOUGH, when she gave birth to a son who was named James after his father. On 11 February 1817, at the age of 20 years, Ann was married to 26 year-old James GOUGH at St John's Church of England at Parramatta. The ceremony was performed by the Reverend Samuel MARSDEN. Both the bride and groom were listed as being of that parish, which at that time took in the Hawkesbury district as well as the Parramatta district. Permission for the marriage had been granted on 8 January 1817. It showed James as a prisoner and Ann as free. She had evidently completed the sentence imposed upon her in 1814. Both were recorded as having come to the colony on the ship "Earl Spencer".

James GOUGH had been born in London in 1790, and at the age of 22 years was living with his wife in a room over a stable when he was arrested and accused of breaking into a house on 24 April 1812 and stealing. Tried at the Old Bailey on 13 May 1812, he was found guilty and sentenced to death . This had been commuted to transportation for life and he had been one of the 200 male prisoners who made the voyage to New South Wales on the ship "Earl Spencer" in 1813. He was described in convict records as age 23 years, 5'10" tall, with brown hair and eyes and a fair to ruddy complexion. He was a joiner by trade. At the time of the 1814 Muster he was in gaol at Sydney. In April 1815 he was listed in the "Sydney Gazette" as having absconded. However, there is no record of his apprehension or punishment. After their marriage in 1817, he and Ann were residing at Windsor again when their second child, Mary, was born. James had been appointed overseer of Government carpenters and was involved in the construction of St.Matthew's Church at Windsor as superintendent of brickwork. About 1819 James GOUGH was overseer of the lumber yard at Parramatta, and it was there that their second son, Alexander, was born. About 1820 a second daughter, Louisa, was born and she was followed by another daughter, Ann, about 1821 . On 26 January 1821 James was granted a conditional pardon and was described as a carpenter, 5'11" tall, with brown hair, hazel eyes and fair complexion. At the time of the Muster in September 1822, James GOFF (sic) and wife Ann were residing in Sydney and had with them their children , James 7, Mary 6, Alexander 4, and Louisa 3. Their infant daughter, Ann, had died in June that year at Sydney. Towards the end of 1822 marital disharmony erupted in the GOUGH household and Ann and James parted.
The "Sydney Gazette" of 22 November 1822 carried the following announcement: NOTICE:I,the undersigned, do hereby give this public Notice (Deeds of Settlement and Separation having been made and executed between myself and my Wife, Ann GOUGH, whereby we have mutually agreed to live separate and apart from each other), that I shall not hold myself responsible for any Debt or Debts that my said Wife may contract, ample provision being made in the said Deeds, by me, for her future support and maintenance. James GOUGH."
It seems that in the break-up of the family, James kept the eldest three children, James, Mary and Alexander, and Ann took little Louisa. To add to her problems caused by the domestic upheaval, Ann was pregnant again at the time of their parting, and during the early months of 1823 she became the mother of twins, Stephen and Phoebe. It was some time during that year or in 1824 that Charles EATHER offered her a home and she had become his wife. What had caused her to return to the Windsor district after her separation from James GOUGH is unknown. Perhaps She returned to friends of the days when she had lived there a few years before .

Charles and Ann lived together for the next 48 years, but they never married because Ann was not legally free to do so as long as her husband James GOUGH was alive, and he outlived her. With Ann's three infants Charles began married life with a ready-made family. It increased about 1825 when his first son, Charles, was born. At the time of the 1825 Muster Ann's daughter Phoebe was listed as a child age 2 years. Three years later, when the 1828 census was taken, Ann, age 31 years, was listed as the housekeeper to Charles ETHER (sic) of Cornwallis, farmer. had with her Louisa (age 8 years ) and Stephen (age 5 years). For some reason daughter Phoebe was not listed anywhere in the census records. She had not died, so it can only be presumed that she also with her mother and had somehow missed being recorded. All three were recorded as being Roman Catholics. Charles and Charles Jnr (age 3 years), were listed as Protestants.
In 1824 James GOUGH acquired an inn about ten miles from Parramatta on the Windsor Road and he remained there it 1828, but when the census was taken he was a builder living in Cambridge Street, Sydney. With him were James (age 13 years), Mary (age 11 years), and Alexander (age 9 years), and also John (age 5 years) and Thomas (age 1 year). The last two were the children of James and Mary ALLEN (nee SHERWIN). All were listed as Protestants. Another son, Thomas, was born to Charles and Ann soon after the census was taken. They continued to farm at Cornwallis and more children were added to their family. William, born 1831, was followed by Charles ' first daughter, Frances, about 1833. Another son, George , born about 1834, and finally another daughter, Rosina, was born on 13 December 1836. Ann was almost 40 and Rosina was her thirteenth and last child. The break-up of her marriage to James GOUGH and the division of their children did not result in Ann's losing contact with her three eldest children. During the years that James had been inn-keeping on the Windsor-Parramatta Road, she had undoubtedly seen them from time to time. Then as they grew up they tended to return to the Hawkesbury district .
By 1836 James GOUGH was living at Berrima and had a carrying business between Liverpool and Goulburn, but the three children had been with him from the days of his marriage to Ann, were probably all in the Hawkesbury district by then.

The EATHER farm at Cornwallis probably saw frequent coming and going of Ann's older children as they called from time to time. Charles' six children would have come to know all their halfbrothers and half-sisters well as the years passed. Ann was a grandmother by the time Rosina was born. Her eldest daughter, Mary, had married Edward Roberts in St Matthew's Church at Windsor on 28 March 1835. It was a ceremony that Ann and Charles would have attended. Mary's first child, William, was born at Windsor on 29 January 1836.
Thereafter, there were frequent additions to Ann's growing number of grandchildren. On 8 January 1838 at Pitt Town Ann' s eldest son James, age 22 years, married Amelia BRINCHLEY WARD, daughter of Michael and Sophia Jane Elizabeth Ann WARD. Amelia's young brother was Frederick Wordsworth WARD 1835-1870 CAPTAIN THUNDERBOLT the bushranger and horse thief.
Amelia and James lived at Windsor, where James worked as a carpenter, and the first of their eleven children was born in December that year. Three months after James married, his brother, Alexander, was married in St Matthew's Church at Windsor on 5 April 1838 at the age of 19. His bride was 17 year old Jane ROBINSON, daughter of Richard and Mary ROBINSON. Alexander took his bride to live at Clarendon near Windsor, and he earned his living as a cooper. Their first child was born early in 1839.
On 25 February Ann's second daughter Louisa, age 18, was married at Portland Head to George FORRESTER, a son of Henry FORRESTER and Lucy UPTON. George's grandfather, Robert FORRESTER, had arrived in the colony on the ship "Scarborough" with the First Fleet. After their marriage Louisa and George lived at Grose Vale near North Richmond. Their first child was born on Christmas Day 1839.
In 1826 Charles's brothers-in-law, Joseph ONUS and Robert WILLIAMS, had been amongst the first wave of pastoralists who had taken stock onto the Liverpool Plains and had "squatted" on runs in the region outside the defined limits of settlement. During the next few years many other pastoralists followed their example, and amongst these were Charles and his brothers, Robert and Thomas. In partnership they established a run called "Benial" on the Namoi River and grazed cattle there. The role that Charles played in this partnership is unknown. He undoubtedly contributed some of the cattle and some of the men whom the partnership employed. He probably visited the station on occasions. In July 1836 the Legislative Council passed the first Act to legalise an d control the practice of squatting, and the very first application for a licence to depasture stock 'beyond the limits of District' was made by the three EATHER brothers.

The joint memorial of Thomas EATHER, Robert EATHER and Charles EATHER, brothers of Richmond, to the Governor, Sir Richard Bourke, read as follows:- "That your Memorialists are Natives of the Colony and Landholders residing at Richmond. That your Memorialists are possessed of a Considerable Numb er of Horned Cattle as their joint stock which for some tim e past and now are depasturing at a Place called 'Benial' on the Banks the Namoi River. That your Memorialists acting in conformity with the meaning of the Act of the Legislative it recently passed for the prevention of encroachment on the Waste Lands in the Colony will be permitted to Graze their Cattle on the Waste Lands unless your Memorialists shall obtain a licence from the Government permitting them so to do. That your Memorialists therefore most respectfully solicit that Your Excellency will be pleased to Grant them a licence to Depasture their Cattle at 'genial' on the Namoi River and that Memorialists as in duty bound will ever pray etc ." The licence was duly granted and renewed in the years that followed. Charles did not capitalise on this early interest in the pastoral industry. The partnership was soon dissolved. Thomas retained the station on the Namoi River and passed it down to his sons. Robert went on extend his pastoral interests away out on Narran Creek, and involved some of his sons in the venture. Charles did not further his early interest and is not recorded as holding any other station in the north or north-west. He seems to have been content to limit his farming and grazing the Hawkesbury district.

In 1822 Robert, Charles and Thomas had each been allocated an allotment of land in Cox's Lane in Windsor at a time when the settlers were being encouraged to build themselves homes out of the flood-prone areas. None of them had made use of their allocation in the years that followed.

Then, on the same day, 22 November 1841, all three wrote separate memorials to the Colonial Secretary seeking deeds of grant for their respective allotments. The requests were refused on the grounds that little or no attempt had been made to use or improve the ground in the intervening years. Having failed in this attempt to obtain an allotment in Windsor. Charles looked to other means of satisfying his requirement, and on 4 July 1842 he purchased an allotment in George Street from his brother Robert. It was the south-western third of an allotment which Robert had purchased about twenty yeas previously. Charles paid 50 for it, as it was an allotment without any house upon it.
On 1 June 1842, another of Ann's children married. Phoebe GOUGH and Dio BALDWIN exchanged vows in the Presbyterian Church at Windsor. Dio was the youngest of the twelve children of Henry Baldwin and Elizabeth RAYNER. The young couple resided at Wilberforce for the first few years of their marriage and their first two children were born there. During the 1840's Ann's grandchildren increased in number at a rapid rate, and by 1850 numbered 22 living out of 25 born. All of her five married children were living in the Hakesbury district, within ten miles of the EATHER farm, so she saw them frequently and watched the infants grow to children and the children to teenagers. On 3 December 1849 there was another wedding in the family when Charles, the first child of Charles and Ann, was married in the Wesleyan Chapel at Windsor to Frances Emma WATT, a young migrant girl who had been born in London, England and had come to the colony as a child with her parents, John and Maria WATT.
Five months later, Thomas, the second son of Charles and Ann, married Emma Mary STAPLES on 2 April 1850.

In 1853 Charles EATHER gave up farming when he was granted a publican's licence for the "Woolpack Inn" at North Richmond. His sureties were his nephews, William Onus and Joseph ONUS, sons of his sister Ann. He spent several years in business there as an inn-keeper. On 2 October 1855 William , his third son, was married to Catherine MCMAHON, a daughter of John and Mary MCMAHON of Kurrajong. Catherine had been born in Ireland and had came to Australia with her parents and brothers and sisters on the ship "Charles Kerr" in 1839 when she was still a small girl.
Four months later there was another family wedding, when Rosina, the youngest of the family, was married on 19 February 1856 to Alfred DALTON in St Matthew's, Church of England, Windsor.
More family weddings followed during the next few years. In 1857 there were two marriages with which Charles and Ann were connected. Jane, the wife of Alexander GOUGH, had died in 1853, and on 2 May 1857 he remarried in St Matthew's Church. His second wife was Elizabeth WALKER, she was over twenty years his junior. Just prior to Christmas, on 19 December 1857, Rosina's elder sister, Frances 1833-1869, married John BATEMAN.
The last of Charles and Ann's children to marry youngest son, George. He was 24 when he married Dorothy KINSELA, daughter of Martin KINSELA 1793-1860 and Ellen Henlen/HENDLING/HANLON 1794-1862, in St Matthew's, Roman Catholic Church at Windsor on 17 April 1860. None the four sons of Charles EATHER and Ann GOUGH had had any formal schooling and therefore grew illiterate. At their respective weddings each signed the marriage register with a cross.

During the many years that Charles EATHER had farmed at Cornwallis the Hawkesbury River not been flooded to the extent that it had in 1809, when he had been a boy. Then in 1864 there was a major flood, and land along its banks that had not been inundated for over fifty years covered by flood waters and much damage done to crops, fences and buildings, while numerous head of stock were drowned. In June 1867 heavy rain fell over the catchment area of the Hawkesbury and its chief tributaries, the Nepean and the Grose Rivers. The river rose and by Thursday 2Oth the farmers knew that another major flood was upon them. At that time three of the sons of Charles and Ann: Thomas, William and George, together with their respective wives and children, were living on adjoining farms at Cornwallis.

The rising water flowed across the flats, creating an island of some land near the river where their farms were situated. On the Thursday afternoon a boat under the direction of one George CUPITT was taking some men away from the area in a boat, when one of the men said to Mrs George EATHER (Dora), "You had better go up in the boat to your sisters and take the four children with you." At first she refused, saying that she would have to bake some bread and get everything into the loft before the next morning, but the men succeeded in persuading her to go. Just as they were getting into the boat, George's brothers, Tom and Bill, arrived from their farms with their wives and children, planning to take refuge in George's house, which was fairly new, and which they believed would be sturdier than their own houses. Mrs Bill EATHER ( Catherine, nee McMahon) remarked to the men, " You won't forget us if the waters come over the ridge". She was asked to get in the boat too, but refused. The boat departed.
That night the flood waters rose fast and the two families climbed onto the roof of George EATHERs house and stayed there for the remainder of the night. On the Friday morning, Mrs George EATHER another lady and Mrs Smith, went into Richmond from Clarendon and spent all day trying to get a boat sent over to rescue the two families stranded at the farm. Men were out in boats in various parts of the district, rescuing people who were stranded by the floods, and the ladies had no success in persuading anyone to go out to the Cornwallis farms.
At nightfall, they gave up trying to arrange a rescue and went back to Clarendon. About 1 am they saw a signal light away over the water in the direction of the house. Believing that it was from the families still at the farm, they returned the signal by tying papers and rags to the end of a fishing rod and lighting them. Then they rushed down to a man with a boat and told him. A dozen men were standing around, but none offered to go.
It was dark and raining. Mr DIGHT's' coachman, a man named RILEY, came along and upon being told of the trouble, passed the information on to Mr DIGHT's, who sent him galloping away to try to secure the public boat when it reached the shore, and to offer the crew 50 to go at once and rescue the EATHER's. He succeeded in getting the message to the crew and three men volunteered to go out. The signal had been a last desperate effort by the EATHER brothers to get help. The waters had risen so high that on the Thursday night they had been forced onto the roof of George EATHER's house. There the sixteen souls waited all day on Friday,expecting a boat which didn't arrive, and there they stayed into a second night.
The waters continued to rise and, reaching a record height, were over all the roof except the last three rows of shingles when the signal light was lit.
In the cold and the rain the families waited until, after twenty hours on the roof, it collapsed and all were swept away amid screams and cries. Thomas, William and George EATHER and Thomas's eldest child, sixteen year-old Charles Frederick, managed to reach a tree to which they fastened themselves. About half an hour later the boat arrived and rescued them. Tom's wife Frances and their other five children, and Bill's wife Catherine and their five children, were all drowned. The news of the tragedy spread through the district the next day and hearts went out to the survivors and their relatives. It has gone down in history as the worst single disaster of all Hawkesbury floods of all time.
The 1867 flood still remains a record for the river. Charles and Ann shared the grief of their sons. They had lost two daughters-in-law and ten of their grandchildren in one single disaster.

Over the years Charles had retained ownership of the large allotment in George Street, Windsor that he had bought from his brother Robert in 1842. When he had moved to the "Woolpack" Inn, he had rented the allotment to tenants.
On 1 July 1868 he gave it to his son George out of "natural love and affection" for the use of the said George his heirs and assigns forever". William BEDWELL was appointed trustee.
Two years later Charles and Ann suffered another bereavement when on 22 September 1869 their daughter Frances died, age of 36 leaving two small sons and a husband to grieve their loss.

Ann suffered a great deal of ill-health during the early months of 1871, and in the winter of that year became seriously ill. She was attended by local doctor, Dr. DAY but despite his efforts she died at Windsor on 18 July from natural causes. Dr Day had last visited her on the previous day. On 20 July she was buried at Windsor with the Reverend Charles F GARNSEY of the Church of England officiating at the graveside, and Thomas Primrose and Son performing the duty of undertakers. Her death was registered by her daughter, Louisa FORRESTER of Richmond Road. Ann's age was recorded as 74 at the time of her death. She had been born in Ireland and had spent 58 years in New South Wales. It was recorded also that she had been married in Sydney at the age of 16 to James GOUGH. Her father's name was not known and her mother's was stated as having been Mary CAIN . Ann's children were recorded as six males and four females living. Their names were not recorded on the death certificate, but the sons were James and Alexander GOUGH and Charles, Thomas, William and George EATHER; and the girls were Mary ROBERTS, Louisa FORRESTER, Phoebe BALDWIN and Rosina DALTON.

Ann spent almost 58 years spent in the colony and lived her last 48 years with Charles EATHER.
Her first husband, James GOUGH, was still alive and was residing in the Gundagai district.

At the time of Ann's death, 80 grandchildren had been born and eventually the number reached the enormous total of 113.

Charles continued to live in the Richmond district. Further sadness came his way when his daughter Rosina, died at Windsor on 20 January 1875 from a liver complaint. He was 75 then, but he lived for another fifteen years.

Little is known of how he spent his declining years. In his old age he resided with his youngest son George and family in March Street, Richmond. It was there that he died on 30 May 1891 at the age of 90. According to family oral history he dropped dead at the table while dining with the family. He was the only child of Thomas and Elizabeth EATHER to reach the age of 90, and his youngest brother James was the only one of their children to survive him. He had outlived his twin brother Thomas by over 4 years. He was survived by his four sons and over 30 grandchildren, as well as several great-grandchildren.
Windsor and Richmond Gazette, Saturday 6 June 1891
A very old resident of the district Mr. C. Eather, died on Sunday at the ripe old age of
91. Mr. Eather was born in Windsor at the residence now occupied by Mr. Wall. He resided
there for a great many years,and then removed to Richmond where he resided up to the
time of his death.
NOTE: Mr. Wall is James B. Wall who lived in the house in George Street up till his death on Monday 29 July 1895.

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The children Of Charles EATHER and Ann nee Cain GOUGH nee CAIN:-

1.Charles EATHER b: May 1825 Richmond, NSW. d: 7 September 1899 at Blackall, Queensland. m. Frances Emma WATT 1829-1866. In the early 1890's he moved to Queensland to live and his many decendants have since made the name familiar in that state. Although by trade a cabinetmaker, he spent much of his life in Farming.

Charles age 74 died at the Blackall Hospital from the effects of arsenic poisoning. He was camped at Ravensbourne Station at Blackall and it was supposed that arsenic was accidently mixed with the flour supplied by the station. Several others in the same camp were taken ill after eating damper made with the flour.

Frances Emma 1854-1936, had married Captain Henry Alban Gray, a ship's pilot in Sydney, and they seem to have led the migration to Queensland for they were living at Bundaburg in 1889. In that year, Mrs. Gray's sister, Lavinia Eather, visited them and met another shipping man, Capt. Hugh McIntosh from Aberdeenshire, Scotland, whom she married at Bundaberg on 26 December 1889

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2.Thomas EATHER b: 1828 Hawkesbury, died 14 November 1916 at Windsor, NSW. m.(1).Emma Mary STAPLES 1828-1867 Emma and all but Charles died in the 1867 Flood of the Hawkesbury
The children of this marriage were:-

(2) On the 2 September 1869,William next married Emma DODD 1830-1911. The daughter of Johh DODD and Isabella BEVITT. Emma was the widow of Joseph JASPER 1807-1862 who had been killed when a heavily laden dray he was driving ran over him at Green Swamp near Mudgee leaving Emma with 9 children.
William EATHER and Emma had only the one child:-
Sarah Eather 1871 1872

A further act of tragedy played out for William, for he met a violent death, when he was run down and killed by a locomotive at Rockdale railway station.
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5.George EATHER b:1834 Richmond, NSW died 17 May 1912 Richmond m. Dorothy 'Dora' Kinsela 1839-1915 the youngest child of Martin KINSELA 1793-1860 and Ellen HENDLING 1794-1862. George and Dora were married at St.Matthews Catholic Church Windsor on the 17 April 1860.
The children from this marriage were:-

1.James Alexander Gough 1815 1898 m. Amelia Brinchley WARD 1820-1872 the daughter of Michael Hanley Thompson WARD 1788-1859 and Sophia Jane CROLSTON 1788-1874. James and Amelia married in the Presbyterian church at Pitt Town on the 8 January 1838.

Ann Cain Married in the name Ann Fraites to James Goff
Reg no. v18172006 3A/1817 by Reverend Samuel Marsden at St John's C of E Parramatta.
Charles had earn't the nickname 'Holy GO'

Charles was my third great grand uncle.

written by Janilye using research notes from newspapers, Hawkesbury Family records, my own family records and several sources within the Eather family and the Society of Genealogists Australia
Alt Ancestral Ref#: 1SGN-D8L S.O.G aust.